Friday, February 22, 2019

Card Spotlight: 2-22-19

1923 W572 - Eddie Collins

I only have one 1920s card in my collection. This is not it.

I would love to start collecting more 1920s White Sox cards, but my my family likes having a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. It's most likely the reason that I don't have a card in my personal collection older that 1925. It's just not feasible right now. One day, if things go right, I'll be able to add to my vintage collection like that. Just not for the foreseeable future.

That will not stop me from appreciating the hell out of those cards though! This card originally came from a strip of ten cards, which had to be cut by hand. That simply means that finding a gem mint card from this set is a near impossibility. While Eddie Collins is more recognized as a Philadelphia Athletic, he spent almost as much time as a White Sox player.

I love diving into baseball history and I have a particular fondness for my favorite team. Eddie spent twelve seasons with the White Sox. That is a lot of time, stretching over a very interesting period. Eddie was with the Sox from 1915 until 1926. That covers two World Series, a scandal, and some dark times. The twenties were not kind to the White Sox. After the 1920 season, the Sox placed no higher than fifth until 1936. Of those years, they finished in last place three times.

There really is a lot to discover from those teams. Part of the reason White Sox players are not better known from the twenties, thirties and forties, is that it is a time where baseball card releases were spotty. The White Sox would have some decent teams, here and there, but no consistency in winning. History remembers the winners much better than the losers and the White Sox were on the losing side of history for a lot of that. This allowed teams, such as the Yankees, to grab a foothold in baseball lore.

The Yankees had a lot of great teams, but I always wondered how the White Sox would play out, if eight of their members weren't banned from baseball. I've already waxed poetic about the possibilities. It's fun to go back and play out what if scenarios in your head. What if such and such person was traded to your team. What would the repercussions be? What later moves would not get made? What if some player didn't retire or get banned? Would they continue to have great seasons? One could get lost for hours inside their own head, once you go down those roads.

I discover new details about my favorite team all the time. Some things really have to be researched and dragged out into the light. Others were right in front of my face the entire time and I just couldn't connect it.

Looking at cards like the W572 of Eddie Collins really gives my brain a workout. There are endless possibilities. Just like there seems to be endless baseball cards.